Running back Vintavious Cooper scores on a 21-yard run in the second quarter Saturday

GREENVILLE – Let’s face it. No matter how hard coach Ruffin McNeill or any of his players tried to suggest otherwise during the past week, there was no way the East Carolina football team was going to lose to Southern Mississippi on Saturday.

None.

That’s how far the once-proud Golden Eagles have fallen. It’s been 669 days and two seasons since USM last won.

But as forgone as the conclusion might have been, this was still an important game for McNeill and his Pirates. Only this time, the emphasis wasn’t as much on winning as it was on how they got the job done.

Coming off a disheartening performance in a triple-overtime loss at Tulane last week, ECU needed a crisp, dominant performance against their soon-to-be former Conference USA rival to get its mojo back heading into the second half of the season.

“Our team just came out and played really hard today, trying to make a statement because of last week,” senior safety Damon Magazu said. “We’re still hurting a little from that.”

ECU (5-2, 3-1 CUSA) rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter at the Superdome last Saturday, only to let the game slip away by missing makeable field goals at the end of regulation and in the third overtime.

What made the sting of that loss so painful is that the score should never have been close enough for either kick to matter.

The Pirates squandered more chances than the Deltas of Faber College against the Green Wave, settling for field goals on four of their first five trips into the red zone and giving up a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown on the other.

The disappointment was so profound that it was still noticeable when ECU returned to the practice field 24 hours later. Until, that is, quarterback Shane Carden and some of his fellow leaders stepped up and took action by reminding their teammates that the Pirates still control their own destiny in the CUSA East race.

“I think me and some of the seniors, we’ve put a lot into this over the four and sometimes five years,” Carden said. “To have a loss like that … you can’t let it beat us twice. If we lose this game (against Southern Miss), then we’re looking at some pretty stuff for our goals.

“Maybe our mentality wasn’t quite right Sunday night when we first came out, but a couple of us got it going and the rest of the week we had some great practices.”

It showed Saturday.

Carden marched his offense 73 yards on 12 plays for a touchdown off the opening kickoff, the first of four times he got ECU into the end zone before halftime. The junior completed 30 of 37 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns while wide receiver Justin Hardy caught 10 passes and accounted for 231 all-purpose yards before leaving the game early in the third quarter with a 45-0 lead.

New Hanover High graduate DaQuan Barnes had his first three career catches for ECUI

The starting defense, meanwhile, limited USM (0-6, 0-2) to 114 total yards through the first 45 minutes while getting a fourth-down stop and an interception from Magazu – his third in as many games. By that time, the only suspense that remained was whether the Pirates would record their first shutout since 2000.

Even that soon went away when McNeill began substituting liberally on that side of the ball, too.

“I know the shutout may be important to some people,” the coach said. “But the shutout means absolutely nothing to me. Getting out healthy does. Getting a win does.”

McNeill and his team accomplished both of those goals Saturday, in addition to getting a lot of young players some valuable game experiences – including New Hanover High graduate DaQuan Barnes, who caught his first three career passes for 47 yards while running a reverse for 12 yards.

More importantly, the Pirates were able to put the painful memory of Tulane behind them, allowing them to head into their bye week and the final five games of the regular season with full steam ahead.